Dissonant Mana
by MonteZedio
Summary: Story about a boy aspiring to be a great archer. His life is thrown into the threads of fate as his true purpose is revealed.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone. Author here. Barely starting with this as my first fanfic. Hope it's good. Enjoy! I do not own MapleStory nor do I want to.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

_Damned Mondays… Why won't you start later?_

I rolled out of bed, still half asleep, bags hanging under my eyes, and lazily dragged myself to the bathroom. The cold water I splashed in my face woke me from my half sleep trance and as I stared at myself in the mirror I began to think about what the day had in store for me.

_I'm going to meet with Athena today. Today is the day I become an archer. _

My name is Omar. No, I do not have a last name or a middle name, just Omar. I never knew nor have I cared about having a last name. Almost no one I knew had one so I don't think I'm missing out on anything special.

Anyways, I am eleven years old at this time and level ten so I am officially old enough to earn Athena Pierce's blessing and become an archer.

I've always wanted to be an archer. Warriors are too rough and I don't want to go right in front of the enemies and get pummeled into a pulp. Mages are as smart as brain surgeons, but I don't want to cover my face in books forever, that's boring. Thieves, well I never had a taste for thieves. Jumping around with their small daggers or their throwing stars, it's just not my style. Pirates are just weird to me. Most of them look like the bums you see on the curb with a foam cup full of change and a sign with gibberish written all over it.

Archers… Archers are so cool. I see them with their magnificent bows and cool armor, they are so insanely awesome!

My brother, Mike, became a fighter and he's level fifty now, the highest leveled person I know. I don't know why he became a fighter though; I never liked the close combat deal. He always talked about how powerful fighters become and how they can defeat even the strongest of enemies in one swift attack. The look on his face was full of pride and accomplishment when he came back with that huge axe and his armor already dirty from his training. He is amazingly skilled and levels incredibly fast when he really tries to and I sort of envy him a little. Well enough about me and my family, time to become an archer!

I jumped out of my house, took a deep breath of fresh air, and sprinted towards the Henesys Park and Athena's tree house. The fragrance of flowers in the park invigorated me as I dashed towards her tree home. Oh how I love Athena's home. It was tall, covered with flowers of all sorts from around the globe, smelled wonderful, and above all else, it is the only house here that is in a tree. I always wanted to live in a tree house like that.

I reached her doorstep, took one last deep breath, and slowly walked into Athena's home. I was nervous and sweat was already collecting on my forehead. Above me I heard a voice call to me, "come on up." I walked up the stairs, counting every step, and saw her, Athena Pierce, in all of her bow master glory. She was a beautiful woman who appeared to be no older than thirty. Her long blonde hair, with the tips of a pair of pointed ears poking out of them, went all the way down to her hips and lay on her back. She was writing something down on a sheet of paper when she noticed me and glanced at me with her blue eyes. "What can I do for you?" she asked.

"Umm… I… I want to become an archer!" I managed to mutter.

"You want to be an archer?" she said with an almost condescending tone as she investigated me from top to bottom.

My cheeks flushed and I managed to utter, "Yes, I want to be an archer!"

A small smile appeared on her face. "Very well, then. Come here."

I walked towards her slowly and she took my hand and held it tightly. I heard her whisper an incantation that I couldn't comprehend then suddenly a bright burst of light appeared all around me, blinding me for a second. When the light faded I saw my hand glow for a few seconds then stop, leaving a strange mark on it. "Congratulations," she announced and handed me a green book that read _Skills for Beginning Archers_, "from here on, you are now an archer."

"Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" I spurted out happily with the book tightly gripped in my hands.

"Well good luck young archer, I'm sure you will be a great ranger one day."

_Ranger… _The words swam threw my head. _Me… A ranger… That sure is something._ I noticed Athena was looking at me strangely, but all I could say was, "Umm… Thank you Athena!" and ran back toward the front door.

I jumped out of Athena's tree home and sprinted towards the Henesys weapons and armor store and used what little money I had received from Michael to buy a new war bow, a quiver of arrows, and a set of green archer armor.

_This hat is a little funny, but the clothes and the bow aren't that bad, _I thought when I looked at myself in the mirror. I sold my old sword for a small sum of mesos and ran out.

_Okay… So if I pull the string like this._ I nocked an arrow to my string and pulled back. I think I pulled too hard because the string snapped and whipped me on my cheek. A few small drops of blood tricked down my cheek while I tied a new bow string on. This time I was more careful and pulled lighter. I released the arrow and saw it fly a few dozen feet away and land on the ground.

_I need to work more on my control so I can shoot further without the string snapping._

I pulled out the small book that Athena gave me. _Eye of the Amazon… Critical Shot… Focus… Oh! Let's try this one!_

I nocked another arrow to my bow string and aimed it at a passing red snail. I began to let the magic suffuse me and released the arrow.

I watched as the magical yellow arrow flew out further than my first arrow and hit my target. A small explosion and a squeal and the snail slumped to the floor and died. I cheered with my small victory and went to collect the snail's shell and the few mesos that dropped.

_This is awesome! I wonder what else I can do._

In the distance I saw Mike slashing through some green slimes with slash blast. The slime and goo from the monsters flew all over the field. His mastery with an axe was incredible and he could easily handle monsters that I fear with ease.

He noticed me watching him and stopped. "Oh, hi Omar! So I see you became an archer, well congrats bro!" He patted me on the shoulder and smiled.

"So what are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm just practicing my skills a little, making sure I'm not rusty. What skills have you learned as an archer?"

"Oh just this one called Arrow Blow. I need to practice trying to shoot further and landing critical attacks first."

"That's a great idea! We can get started on your training now!"

I stared at him surprised, "you want to help me with my training?"

"Well why not? I can help you for a few levels, but you should learn how to train on your own. Who knows? One day you might pass me!"

"I doubt that… So where should we train?"

"Hmm… How about Pig Beach?"

"Where is that?" I asked confused.

"Come with me and I'll show you," Mike said smiling.

After a bit of traveling we found ourselves in a beach-like environment but we were on top of a ledge. When I peaked down from the ledge I saw numerous pigs, some with red ribbons tied around them and some without.

"Are you sure it's safe down there bro?" I asked nervously.

"Of course it is! I'm here in case you get in danger so don't worry. Now come on!" Mike pushed me down the ledge and leaped down himself. I screamed and landed on my back with a thump.

"Ouch…" I picked myself up and checked my bow to make sure it didn't break. Right away a pig appeared in front of me and slammed itself into my gut. "Gah!" I screamed and smacked the pig repeatedly with my bow before Mike came in and slashed the pig in half with his axe.

"Oh come on Omar, you're an archer, you should have shot him way before he got close enough to hit you!" Mike sighed with a disappointed look on his face.

"S-Sorry Mike, it just caught me by surprise, it won't happen again," I apologized.

"Just don't let it happen again and you'll be fine."

I nodded and carefully strung my bow, trying my best to make sure it doesn't snap on me.

"Well after you're done playing with your blue wooden toy there I want you to kill a few of those pigs over there," Mike ordered as he unfolded his Relaxer and sat down.

"Wait what? You're not going to help me kill them?" I asked surprised.

"Of course not! This is your training, not mine. You already know how to shoot them, you just have to learn how to do it better that's all. Now go on, kill those pigs."

I sighed and made my way towards the pigs, shooting them as I saw them.

"Use your magical abilities to enhance your attacks! It's a very important thing to master," shouted Mike from his chair.

"Yeah, I know!" I shouted back.

Whenever I saw a pig pass by I let the magic suffuse me and I shot them down one by one. After a while I felt more exhausted from using my magic too much and had to drink some of the blue potions I got from the general store in Henesys. After drinking some of the potion I felt the mana coming back to me and I began to use my magic again.

After a couple hours of training Mike called me and I ran back over to him. "Okay little bro, how many have you killed?" he asked.

"Like a lot! I lost count after five hundredth sorry."

He laughed and said, "well it takes a lot of kills to level up so you better get used to it."

I sighed and asked, "what should I do now?"

"Don't worry about it bro. We're done for the day," he got up and patted me on the shoulder, "don't overwork yourself."

"Umm… Okay. Let's go home then?"

"Yeah let's go home, we'll continue tomorrow."

We made our way back home where I took a relaxing shower, had a quick dinner, and went to bed, still worn out from my training.

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><p><strong>One year later.<strong>

"Okay Omar, so you're level twenty now right?"

"Yeah," I said panting after a long day of training.

"Okay good work, you are ascending quickly. We still have a lot of training to do if you want to become a hunter though."

"I know."

"Well from now on you're going to need to train on your own!"

I stared at him surprised. "Me? Training alone? I thought you were going to help me!"

"I can't help you forever."

I sighed and picked up my new hunter bow. "Okay, I'll try to train alone."

"I'm proud of you little brother, you will make a fine archer."

"Well… What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to stay home, relax, and maybe start back on my training."

"Oh okay… That's fine I guess."

"I'm going to head home. Good luck Omar."

"Thanks." I watched as Mike ran back to Henesys.

_Where should I train? Pig beach? The trees in Ellinia forest? I heard there are powerful monsters in the Ant Tunnel; I might need to train some more before going in there… I think I can handle it though._

I traveled to the Ant Tunnel to train work on my training when I encountered a shadowy figure near the entrance. He was dressed in a black hooded cape with the hood over his head, hiding his facial features. In his right hand he held a red wand and on his left arm he had a glowing shield with a maple leaf in the middle and black gloves. He reminded me of a gothic kid that you usually see in those dark corners of Kerning City. I saw a black aura being emitted from his hands, some kind of magic perhaps?

After a couple seconds he noticed my presence and screamed. His shriek was not human. It reminded me of the sound of claws scratching against a chalkboard and a shrieking vulture that is hunting down its prey. He swung his arms and launched a ball of black material at me. I managed to jump out of the way and watched as it hit the wall with a huge bang, leaving a hole in the wall where it exploded. I was horrified and ran away as fast as I could. When I looked back I noticed he wasn't following me.

I ran all the way to Sleepywood and into the sauna and sighed with relief and exhaustion.

_He wasn't human, that's for sure... What in the world is he?_

_I'm finally level thirty… I've finally reached the level to become a hunter._

I looked up at Athena's tree home, the place I went to two years ago to become an archer. I'm thirteen years old now, and I am ready to become a hunter. I put my unstrung Ryden into my quiver and made my way to her front door. I knocked on her front door, more confident than I did before. I heard a voice tell me to come in. I opened the door and walked in calmly, keeping track of my breath. When I made my way up the stairs I saw Athena at her writing on a document, just like the last time I saw her. She looked up and saw me. "Ah! Omar! You're here. That must mean you have reached level thirty and are ready to take the next step in becoming an archer."

"Yes," I stated, "I want to take the test to become a hunter."

"I see, so you feel more acquainted with a bow than a crossbow."

"Yes, I feel better pulling a bow string than pulling a trigger."

"Very well then, there is a friend of mine who is at the path towards the dungeon of Sleepywood, she will help you become a hunter. I will send her a note stating you are on your way."

"Thank you, Athena," I bowed and rushed out of her home. I didn't want to talk about what I saw a year ago in the Ant Tunnel, I was still scared and don't know what exactly I should do about it.

I quickly ran towards the path to the dungeon, where I have been to several times before for my training. I had to make my way through thorns and climb several ropes before finding a slightly shorter, blue haired archer wearing glasses and holding a blue bow.

"You must be Omar, Athena sent me notice that you are coming," she said as she stared at me walking over to her.

"Yes, that's me," I panted, "I'm ready to take my test."

"You are?" she asked as she looked at the scratches and wounds on my legs and arms.

"Yes, I am."

"Very well then, the monsters in the cavern have been cursed and are now evil. The source of their evil is dark marbles inside of them. Go into that hole and get me thirty dark marbles and bring them back up here. I'll be waiting here."

I stared at the hole, it was a relatively small hole, but nothing one person can't fit through. It was really dark, I couldn't see anything down in the hole, but I heard monsters scurrying around down there.

I climbed down the ladder leading to the cavern and I managed to see the few monsters that were running down there. They weren't really anything serious. They were actually the monsters that I encounter in the Ant Tunnel. I couldn't shoot any from the ledge where I was standing, so I had to jump down to kill them. I lost track of how long I was in the cavern, but by the time I counted my thirtieth marble I made my way back out. The bag was incredibly heavy with all the marbles that I collected so climbing back up the ladder was a challenge.

I hefted the bag and threw it at the job instructor's feet. Several marbles rolled out and she counted the rest.

"Okay that's thirty marbles. Good work, now take this," she handed me a paper and told me to go back to Athena.

When I finally made my way back to Henesys and Athena's home, she greeted me warmly, "Omar, I see you passed your test, congratulations! Are you ready to become a hunter?"

"Yes, I'm ready."

She took my hand, much like when I became an archer, and whispered an incantation. I couldn't hear her because of how quiet she was talking.

Suddenly a bright flash of light surrounded me, much like before, and I felt myself becoming more powerful. When the light faded my hand was glowing stronger than the first time.

"Congratulations, you are now a hunter," Athena said proudly. She grabbed a blue book from the shelf behind her and handed it to me, "here, take this. This is a book of all of the skills a hunter can learn. Read it, you can learn all sorts of skills. I can explain them to you if you want."

"Um, yes, please do."

She laughed and opened up the book, "okay, this one is Bow Mastery, it allows you to become better skilled with your bow and less clumsy. This one is Bow Booster, using some of your energy you can pull the string of your bow faster than before, making you attack faster. This one is Soul Arrow, it allows you to magically create your own arrows so you don't have to worry if you ever run out of regular arrows. It's useful in a tight spot. This one is Final Attack. This skill allows you to attack twice, the first attack you use one of your attacking skills such as arrow blow or double shot and you can use the leftover mana from the original attack to launch a second, powerful attack to your enemy. It could be useful in some situations. This one is Power-Knock Back, which allows you to swing your bow for an incredibly powerful attack that can send your enemies flying back. The last skill is Arrow Bomb, my personal favorite. This one allows you to launch an arrow that explodes upon contact, damaging and stunning other monsters around it."

"Those are all interesting skills to learn. I'll probably practice Arrow Bomb and that Soul Arrow. I bet they can come in handy."

"You should raise your Bow Mastery, it's one of the most useful skills in the book."

"Thank you Athena, oh, one more thing. I saw this man… He was in the Ant Tunnel. He possessed this strange aura around him and tried to attack me. Is there any possibility this has been seen before or something?"

Athena looked at me surprised and said, "I've never heard of anything like that before… I'll look into it. Thank you Omar."

I bowed and ran out of the tree, leaving Athena at her desk while she pondered over what I told her, and began my way to the fields to test out my new skill.

_Okay let's try it._

I nocked an arrow to my bow and aimed at the passing ribbon pigs. I began to let the magic suffuse me and released the shining arrow. With a flash and a bang, the arrow exploded and killed all of the ribbon pigs in the small area.

"Yes!" I cheered at my small victory and at the new skill I am able to use now.

"Okay, let's get started." I began to make my way towards Perion to stop at my rented apartment and stock up on supplies at the general store.

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><p><strong>Yeah hope it was good! Leave reviews! I like criticism.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay I know all of you have been waiting. Yeah I know I only got one review. What of it? It was a dang good one and I appreciate it.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

A bead of sweat rolled down my face as I watched as the fire boars scurried along on a lower level of the mountain near the sun-drenched Perion.

_Easy prey._

I nocked two arrows to my bow and pulled back the string of the Ryden. I began to feel the mana rush through me and released the arrows. They both hit clean between the boar's head. With a squeal and a slump, the monster died.

It seemed the other boars around it took notice, because they began to run my way. I pulled out another arrow and with a rush of magic and a single shot the golden orange arrow flew to the boar in the center and exploded, launching all the other boars to different directions, stunned. Killing the rest of the boars became a simple task with Double Shot.

_This is becoming too easy._

It's true, training here for the past four levels has made all of this second nature for me.

I saw a flash and two golden arrows launched past me, hitting a nearby fire boar. The boar squealed and died from the hit.

The attacker was another hunter, I'm guessing in his early forties because of his Pietta outfit and his Vaulter 2000. His black disheveled hair was covered by a Brown Distinction and his accurate brown eyes scanned the area.

"Hey there! You should be more careful," shouted the stranger, "that boar almost got you."

He ran towards me and greeted me warmly, "hi! I'm James. Who are you?"

"I'm Omar," I managed to say while dusting specks of dirt out of my dark brown hair, "thanks for the help; I didn't notice that fire boar right there. It could have caught me by surprise."

I shook his hand and noticed his strange pendant around his neck.

"Hey, where did you get that?"

"Oh this?" he showed me the pendant, "this is my Spiegelmann Necklace, don't you have one? I got one from the Monster Carnival. Everyone above level thirty has one!"

"Monster Carnival? I've never heard of that."

"Oh, you should talk to Spiegelmann then, he's in Kerning City."

I decided to go come along with him and went back to Perion, and from there only a short taxi ride to Kerning City. Spiegelmann was somewhere on the west side of Kerning. He was a strange man, large, round, always smiling, and wearing a funny hat and outfit. I almost thought of him as a clown.

"Come one! Come all! Come to the Monster Carnival! Here you can earn experience and maybe even be able to win special prizes if you find Maple Coins!" the crazy clown shouted.

He noticed me and James and pointed at us, "you two! Don't you want to compete with other people and see who the best is? You can win one of these pretty little objects!" He pulled out a Spiegelmann Necklace and showed it to us, "for a mere fifty Maple Coins you can earn yourself your own pendant! They can make you stronger and maybe increase your stamina as well!"

"This is a strange man," I whispered to James.

"Yeah, don't worry, he's harmless," he replied.

I approached Spiegelmann, "I would like to compete!"

"Ah! Well come over here young archer!" he showed me a portal behind him, "in here you will find the Monster Carnival. You and a few friends can go in and compete with other friends or complete strangers to see who can kill the most monsters in a matter of ten minutes!"

_That sounds simple enough._

I walked through the portal and found myself in a large room that resembled an area like Ludibrium. It was all blocky and looked like a giant toy. I have been to Ludibrium before and all of the monsters there resembled toys. I always thought of that area as incredibly strange and never really liked it. I always preferred the monsters in Victoria Island, they weren't as creepy.

Soon after, James came out of the same portal I came through.

"So, what do you think?" he asked with a grin on his face.

"It's weird."

He laughed and asked, "well, don't you want to try it out?"

"Sure, it sounds like fun."

We formed a party of two people and looked for people to compete with.

"Hey! Anyone want to challenge us?" shouted James.

"After a while of shouting and looking around two girls appeared; an Assassin and a Cleric. The Assassin was wearing a dark outfit with red material sowed along the edges and sported a fancy-looking black claw. She had medium-length raven black hair and gray eyes. Her friend was around my age I guessed and she was wearing a brown robe for mages and sported a Maple Staff. She had beautiful long, dark brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Hi! I'm Joyce," announced the Assassin cheerfully.

"I'm Amy," said the Cleric in an equally cheerful tone.

"I'm James and this is my friend Omar."

"Hi," was all I managed to sputter out.

Joyce investigated us both and asked, "so you want to challenge us?"

I nodded nervously, this was my first time at the Carnival and I didn't know what to expect.

"You look nervous."

_Was it really that obvious?_

"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you," she winked and strolled towards Spiegelmann with Amy.

I heard Amy whisper to Joyce, "are you sure we should take them on? They look like amateurs."

"So what? That just means more experience for us."

"True, but I feel bad for making these two lose."

I sighed and began to regret of ever coming to this stupid carnival.

After they talked to Spielgelmann, we were teleported to a small waiting room and after some preparation we were sent to a place that looked like a flat arena with platforms at the top. The room was all purple and blocky. It seemed like there were two rooms and James and I were in one room while the girls were in the other.

After a few moments a few Toy Trojans and robots appeared and began to run towards us. Almost instinctively I nocked an arrow to my bow and fired the golden orange shaft towards the mob of enemies. The arrow exploded on contact with the first one and knocked back and stunned the ones around it. The one that took the impact of the bomb seemed to have been hurt pretty badly, but not as much as I hoped.

I saw James flanking the monsters from the left. He released several consecutive Arrow Bomb attacks and killed a mob of monsters. His skills were impressive and he was obviously more powerful than me. I felt a little bit of jealousy build up in me but it all disappeared when a Trojan appeared right in front of me and swung its sword at me. I narrowly avoided the attack and backed away to prepare to kill it with Double Shot until another Trojan came at me from the right and slashed me with its sword. It gashed my back and left me with a burning pain. I screamed and immediately released a barrage of Double Shot arrows at the Trojan, killing it. The other Trojan was dispatched by James before it was able to get to me.

"That's a pretty nasty wound," he said when he ran up to me. "Here, drink this," he handed me a purple potion.

I drank the bitter liquid and I felt my wound immediately close up and my bruises heal and all of my energy came back. "What is that?" I asked.

"It's a power elixir, all of the monsters here drop some form of potion."

"That's some great stuff."

I wiped my mouth and stood up, regaining my composure.

After about five minutes of constant fighting I began to wonder if I would ever get a break. The monsters just kept coming; there was no end to them.

Soon a tall statue appeared on one of the platforms above us. I had no idea what that statue was or what it did, but I kept my mind in the fight instead of looking at that.

Suddenly I noticed that the enemies were stronger! _How is this possible?_

An enemy appeared in front of me and punched me, more powerful than its companions. I grabbed hold of an elixir and replenished my energy.

I saw James scream at me, "we have to destroy that thing!" He was pointing at the weird statue. It became clear to me that the statue was giving them power.

Almost immediately I leaped for the ladder and climbed up to the platform. I began to strike the statue with my bow. One time… two times… three times…

After the fourth hit the statue began to crumble and the monsters' power were reverted back to normal. "Good work Omar," panted an exhausted James.

"Thanks." I was tired too; this fight has taken a toll on me.

After a few moments I heard an announcement say "MATCH OVER!"

"Well I guess that's that," said James as he patted me on my shoulder. "Come on, let's go check how we did."

We left the area and entered what I think was the exit room. We saw the two other girls there, also exhausted.

Amy and Joyce ran over to us and Joyce was the first one to talk, "you two were hard to keep up with."

"You just kept summoning defenses on our monsters; I think we wasted too much time breaking the defenses than killing the monsters," said Amy.

"I didn't summon any defenses," I said while looking at James.

"Well this is the Carnival, what do you expect?" replied a smiling James.

"Ahem." We all looked at Spiegelmann while he said, "the winner of the Carnival match is… Omar and James of Maple Blue! Congratulations! You both did so well that you earned an A rank. Good work!"

"We won? Incredible," I said baffled. "I thought for sure that we weren't going to win."

"You two were good, we could hardly keep up. Geez which one of you is the powerhouse?," said Amy.

James nudged me on the shoulder and grinned, "you should have seen this kid! He was blowing up every monster with a flick of his wrist.

I laughed and pushed James back, "I wasn't doing that great." _I thought I was doing terrible. Am I better than I thought?  
><em>

"Oh Joyce, we have to leave, Candice is waiting for us," Amy told her friend.

"Oh that's right! Well it was nice to meet you two, but we have to go," we said bye to them and then watched as Joyce and Amy ran out of the Carnival. I found myself staring at where they ran off to for quite a long time.

"Hey, Omar, snap out of it," said James.

"What? Oh, um, sorry," I said while still not completely focused.

"What's wrong with you? You were eyeing those girls like a dog that found free steak."

"Um… What? Wait, no. No! I wasn't!" I yelled as my face started turning a bright red in embarrassment.

"Hahah! You have a crush! So, which one do you like?"

"None! They're just two girls that we barely met."

"Okay then. Live in denial. It was that cleric wasn't it?," snickered James.

I glared at James and decided not to continue the conversation that probably would have ended badly anyway. I wiped some sweat off of my forehead and slowly put my bow back into my quiver.

"That whole monster brawl back inside the arena must have worn you out, you look like crap," said James in a humorous tone.

"That was easily one of the most intense experiences I've ever went through," I said with a sigh, "There was so much going on and so many monsters coming at me I thought I was going to die for a second in there."

"You'll get used to it," James patted my shoulder, "just takes some time and practice."

"Thanks I guess…"

"No problem hahah. I'll leave you to rest and regain your energy, I need to head out anyway."

"Where are you going?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, just exploring, training, and collecting items for various people that need things done for them. The usual stuff."

"Well you have fun with that."

"Thanks, I'll see you around Omar!" James ran out of the main lobby of the Carnival with his Icarus Cape flapping around behind him.

_Okay… Now what?_ I began to think of what I should do as I watched all the people making groups and challenging others and running off into the arenas.

With a large sigh I picked myself up and made my way out of the Carnival.

I found myself back in Kerning City where I made my way to the taxi. I jumped into the yellow car and told the driver the destination. The cab driver was pretty quiet so I just sat in the back while watching the scenery flow by. It honestly seemed pretty boring after seeing it for the thousandth time. After a few more minutes of waiting and paying for my cab fare I was back in Perion. I made my way back to my little apartment that I rented.

I opened the front door to my apartment and dropped my bag on the floor next to my desk and immediately slumped on my couch. I removed my dark hunter hat and placed it on the coffee table and proceeded to thinking of what I should do tomorrow.

_I can train, but I've been training my butt off for two months straight. Maybe I can do a few favors for the people in town and make some money… I'm starting to run low on cash anyway. _I pulled out my almost empty wallet and sighed. _Yep. Out of cash.  
><em>

After about two hours of thinking and just being plain lazy I heard knocking coming from my door. I lazily got up off of my couch and opened the door to find the raven black-haired assassin I met at the Carnival.

"Oh! I must have gotten the wrong house. I'm so sorry!" she apologized and blushed from her apparent embarrassment.

"Umm…" I gave her a confused look before she said something again.

"Hey aren't you that hunter from the Carnival? Omar right?"

"Yeah that's me. You're… Joyce?"

"Yeah!"

"Oh, well it was nice seeing you again."

"Yeah, hey wait! Want to come with me to Ludibrium? My friends and I were planning to head over there."

"Umm…" I looked around and sighed, "Sure. I have nothing better to do anyway."

"Okay! Meet me at the Ellinia station in an hour. I'll see you there!"

Joyce ran off quickly using her haste and I began to pack up my supplies. I packed plenty of food, water, and whatever money I could scrape up for the trip since I was most likely going to be gone for a few days or longer. There was enough food to last me for the travel and I probably didn't need to restock until I was in Orbis anyway.

I picked up my supplies, covered my head with my hat, put my bow in my quiver and began walking to the cab driver where he took me to Ellinia for a small fee.

I jumped and climbed my way up to the higher parts of Ellinia where I found the entrance to the Ellinia Station. Getting up the small tree town was not one of my favorite things to do, but my great dexterity was good enough for me to not slip or miss a step. When I got to the station I found the people who were waiting for me was Joyce, Amy, and another girl who had the same color hair as Amy, but shorter and wavier. She looked to be about the same age as the two girls, but a higher level based on the kind of claw she was wielding.

I saw Joyce waving at me and the other two turned around to face me as I walked over to the pier where the boat will arrive. "Omar you made it! The boat's going to arrive in a couple minutes."

"Oh, I'm glad I made it on time," I said with a smile.

"Oh yeah! Omar this is Candice. You didn't get to meet her in the Carnival because she's too high of a level to get in now."

"You're Omar huh?" she said while investigating me. "I've heard about you." Her stare was kind of intimidating. I tried not to look too nervous in front of her while I was being "examined."

"Candice stop scaring him!" Amy yelled at Candice and then faced me and said cheerfully, "hi Omar! How have you been?"

"I've been good, thanks."

"Anything interesting happen?"

"No not really."

"… Wow you're kind of boring."

I looked at Amy surprised. I had no idea how to reply to her comment.

"Oh my gosh he's blushing! That's so cute!" I didn't even realize it but I turned out really was blushing. That kind of made me even more nervous.

"Guys come on! The boat is here, let's get on board," yelled Joyce, luckily before I could embarrass myself even more.

I turned around to see a gigantic ship with white sails and what looked like wings on the starboard and propellers on the stern. We ran over to the ship and quickly boarded it. We got settled on a quiet part of the deck and waited for it to start moving. A couple others boarded the ship while we waited, but I wasn't that interested in seeing what they looked like more closely.

I leaned against the railing while the three girls were talking and laughing on the other side of the boat. I didn't mind not being a part of the conversation. I never had anyone to talk to after my brother left to train and I wasn't good at making friends and I usually preferred training alone. Truth be told, James is probably the first friend I made since I became an archer.

After about five minutes the ship began its flight toward Orbis. Orbis was a city in the clouds filled with fairies that weren't too fond of humans and was incredibly hard to reach if you can't fly or somehow warp there. The only way to climb up is from Orbis Tower, a twenty story tower that connected Orbis to El Nath, the city of eternal winter. The snow in El Nath never melted, mostly because of the always freezing climate. I never understood why there was no other season besides winter in El Nath.

I watched the clouds below us as we were ascending up through the sky and enjoyed letting the wind hit my face. The clouds took on several shapes, forms, and sizes and I imagined stories, monsters, people, and lands from them. You could imagine the tales of the historic heroes and monsters from the olden days of Bera. Looking at those clouds made me forget about my stress. For once in a long time, I was at peace.

That peace was short lived when a huge ship with black sails flew out of the clouds, heading right for the ship. I could see two Crimson Balrogs, the most feared creatures in Victoria, on the deck. Their twisted, snarling faces striking fear in me. Several of the people on the ship fled to the cabin and I was locked out.

_This is definitely not good._

The Crimson Balrogs spread their black wings and revealed most of their fearsome armored form. Scars streaked across their dark brown fur from obvious encounters with other adventurers that fell before them. Dried up blood stains was on their armor from probably the same place they got the scars. They leaped into the air and stayed afloat by flapping their powerful wings. Each flap sent gusts of wind across the deck of the ship and pushed the sails more to the side. They glared at me with their pure black eyes and stared at me for a moment. Before long they began to sky dive in my direction, bloodthirsty roars erupting from them making me seem like their next meal. I jumped to the side and rolled across the deck, barely evading their attacks, and ran to a corner of the ship where I hid from the monsters behind a few crates and barrels. I prayed they wouldn't find me and make me into dinner. They were sniffing around the ship, searching for their hiding dinner, but just before they found me, four stars flew out and struck one of them through the head. I watched it fall to the dock of the ship with a loud thud and saw the attacker was a Hermit, who in my guess was around level one hundred based on his Craven. He a black bandana tied across his head and a black chainmail vest with a few chains across his legs. He was built to be fast which was evident from the speed of which he flash jumped between parts of the ship.

A moment later I saw the other Crimson Balrog fly towards the hermit, but before I shouted to warn him another figure wielding a large pole arm appeared and smashed the axe-spear weapon on the Balrog's head, breaking its helmet and shattering its skull. The large creature slumped to the floor, dark crimson blood oozing from the huge gash on its head. Its killer was a larger man than the Hermit, equipped with what looked like a Maple Karstan and wearing a crimson metal armor, partly from design and partly from the bloodstains on it. On his head he wore a skull of an animal that must have been pretty formidable. My best guess was that he was a Dragon Knight, and a pretty powerful one too. Most likely more powerful than the Hermit.

I turned towards the large ship where the Crimson Balrogs came from and watched as it flew away. Before it disappeared into the clouds I noticed a strange figure in an ominous, dark cloak on the deck of the ship. His face was covered by a hood but I still felt like I saw him from somewhere. Before I could think about it for too long the cloaked person was already back inside the ship and the ship itself was flying away._  
><em>

"Hey kid! What the hell did you think you were doing?" the Hermit was shouting at me while he ran towards me. I stepped out of where I was hiding, still awe-struck from the amazing display of skills by the two 3rd classes. The Dragon Knight simply dusted himself off and began to clean his Karstan, not seeming to care about what his companion did.

I picked myself up and dusted off some dirt from my armor when the Hermit reached me, "kid, why didn't you hide inside the cabin like your friends? You could have been killed!"

"I don't know. I got scared and didn't know where to go."

"Well you're lucky we were here to save your sorry ass," the Hermit sighed and jumped up to the Dragon Knight, who was checking to see if any part of the ship was severely damaged.

_He's right. I stand no chance to those beasts. I must get stronger…_ I sighed and made my way up to the where the two Third Classes stood and managed to mutter "thanks for saving me…"

The Dragon Knight began to eye me from top to bottom and gave a disappointed look. "Don't worry about it," he said and stuck his pole arm in a strap behind his back. The Hermit leaped down and opened the door to the cabin, "everything's fine! The balrogs are gone," he shouted. Everyone came out of the cabin with relief and began to praise the Third Classes for their heroic deeds. The Hermit thanked them and put on a smile, but the Dragon Knight didn't seem to care for their praise and shrugged his way out of the crowd.

With a sigh I stood at the railing of the ship and watched the clouds when I felt the cold touch of metal on my shoulder. I turned my head and saw the Dragon Knight who helped save my life. It was impossible to read what he was thinking from the look on his face. "You're not ready…"

I stared at him for a while before I saw him turn around. But before he began to walk away he whispered, "keep training."

I stood there, thinking about his words for a while until I was snapped out of my day-dreaming trance by a familiar feminine voice. "Hey Omar wake up!"

Regaining my focus, I looked around to see the Dragon Knight and Hermit were gone and we had landed at Orbis Station already. Joyce was standing next to me snapping her fingers in front of me before I stuttered, "oh umm… sorry." I was still thinking about the Dragon Knight, his words still swimming through the corners of my mind. "I was just… Never mind," my mind wasn't ready for almost any form of conversation so I quickly evaded Joyce's questions and pulled my raggedy cape a little higher over my shoulder to protect myself from the chilling air of winter and avoid eye contact with the people that were still on the ship.

I quickly leaped off the ship and made my way to the main part of Orbis. I needed a place to sit and maybe sleep, but didn't know where to go. All I knew is that I won't find out by standing around.

"Omar wait!" I turned around to see Candice following me. "Where are you going?"

"I umm… I really need a place to rest," I confessed, a hint of exhaustion in my voice.

"Oh, well my sister has a residence down in El Nath if you want to stay."

I looked at her surprised, "well I wouldn't want to impose, especially if there isn't enough room. And anyway weren't we going to Ludibrium?"

"It's no imposition and don't worry about there not being enough room. Oh and about Ludibrium, I think you've had enough of boats for one day huh?," she said with a smirk.

It didn't take long before I eventually got talked into accepting the offer. We were soon joined by Amy and Joyce. After we were all together we began to make our way to Orbis Tower, and from there to El Nath.

* * *

><p><strong>Hope this one isn't too bad.<strong>


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